Holy frijoles, there is it in black and white: the ATF traces on the guns used to murder Customs and Border Protection Agent Brian Terry. They reveal unequivocally that the ATF met the enemy and it was them. Click here for the actual trace data report sheets and Senator Grassley’s response to the ATF and Department of Justice’s stonewalling. Even for those of us who’ve been following this story, Senator Grassley’s letter is, well, shocking. “The ATF had been tracking [suspected murderer Jaime] Avila’s firearms purchases because Avila was a suspected trafficker since at least November 2009. According to whistleblowers, at least one gun dealer wanted to stop participating in sales like those to Avila sometime around October 2009. However . . .
the ATF allegedly encouraged the dealer to continue selling to suspected traffickers and asked the dealer to forward information about the sale to the Bureau . . .
In addition to these specific weapons, the indictment of Avila and others references approximately 769 firearms. Of those, the indictment refers to the recovery of only about 103 weapons. So, where are theother approximately 666 weapons referenced in the indictment?
I’d point out how spooky that number is, but the truth is that the ATF-enabled weapons have been used—will be used—to murder innocent people. Grassley’s letter slams the DOJ for stonewalling and accusing the Senator of politicking. It concludes with an email from Agent Terry’s mother, which I will publish separately.
Some data points from the docs.
– The guns recovered from the crime scene, the weapons used to kill Agent Terry were two of three WASR-10s sold by Arizona’s Lone Wolf Trading gun dealer to one Jaime Avila. [page 16]
– Avila also purchased five FN FiveseveN pistols from Lone Wolf on one occasion [page 5] and further three pistols on another [page 9]
– Avila also purchased two .50 caliber Barrett rifles, sold by Scottsdale Gun Club. If I may say, holy shit. [page 18]
– The inclusion of two documents indicating delayed trace request—issued by the ATF to the Department of Justice—suggests that the ATF initially engaged in a cover-up of the murder weapons’ source. [page 23]